Fuson Fellowship Fund and Memorial Award

The R. C. Fuson Fellowship Fund

The R. C. Fuson Fellowship Fund supports fellowships for graduate students in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois.


The Reynold C. Fuson Memorial Award in Chemistry

The Reynold C. Fuson Memorial Award in Chemistry provides unrestricted funds for use on immediate or vital Department of Chemistry needs.  Since its inception, this fund has been used to support awards, scholarships, new academic and research programs, and student loans, among other equally vital uses. 


About Reynold C. Fuson

Reynold C. Fuson, known to his friends and colleagues as "R.C.",  was a distinguished faculty member at the University of Illinois Reynold FusonDepartment of Chemistry from 1927-1963.  During those years, he became known as one of the Big Four, a group of chemists at Illinois which was also comprised of Roger Adams, Carl "Speed" Marvel, and Ralph Shriner.  A devoted educator, he supervised 76 undergraduate research students, 154 doctoral candidates and 15 postdoctoral fellows during his tenure at Illinois.  He authored or co-authored five text books, including the well-known "Systematic Identification of Organic Compounds", which has long been a classic in the field.  Among him many scientific contributions was his origination of the principle of vinylogy.  He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a charter member of the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois, and received honorary degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota.  Yet in spite of his outstanding stature as a research chemist, Fuson's deepest interest was always in the teaching and welfare of his students.